Regulated secretion of macrophage migration inhibitory factor is mediated by a non-classical pathway involving an ABC transporter

Abstract

The cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is inducibly secreted by immune cells and certain other cell types to critically participate in the regulation of the host immune response. However, MIF does not contain a N-terminal signal sequence and the mechanism of MIF secretion is unknown. Here we show in a model of endotoxin-stimulated THP-1 monocytes that MIF does not enter the endoplasmatic reticulum and that MIF secretion is not inhibited by monensin or brefeldin A, demonstrating that MIF secretion occurs via a non-classical export route. Glyburide and probenicide but not other typical inhibitors of non-classical protein export strongly block MIF secretion, indicating that the export pathway of MIF involves an ABCA1 transporter.